Disaster puts our petty little problems into context, doesn’t it? If you feel inclined to help the people of Haiti struggling after yesterday’s earthquake, here’s a suggestion:

My colleague (through the Halton-Peel Communications Assocation) Marnie Hughes was project coordinator for the International Conference of Healing Hands for Haiti in Toronto last November. She says, “I was fortunate to meet many individuals from Haiti, Canada and the U.S. who have dedicated the past 10 years to providing rehabilitative medicine and education to the disabled of Haiti. After yesterday’s devastating earthquake, what is left of their facility will be put to use helping, where possible, even more vulnerable Haitians. It would mean a great deal if you would consider directing your help to www.healinghandsforhaiti.org. Thank you very much for considering this.”

As always, the American Red Cross and Canadian Red Cross are also providing assistance. And so is Free The Children.

I’ve talked before about how referrals magically help you diversify your business, and how networking can lead to the connections, the trust and the work that leads to referrals. December is a busy month, but I’m more likely to be meeting with friends and family than building my business network. January is a different story, and I’m gearing up for three networking and professional development events in the next two weeks:

Wednesday, January 20, 6:30-9 p.m.
Halton-Peel Communications Association (HPCA)
“What’s your behaviour style?”
Location: Glen Abbey Library, 1415 Third Line, Oakville, ON
Paula Hope of the Referral Institute will walk you through how to evaluate your network and relationships, create messages to build on those relationships for business, and understand behaviour styles so you know how to get your message across. In short, WHO are you talking to, WHAT are you saying, and HOW are you going to say it? (Note: If there is still small print that says the event is closed, ignore it; it’s not. If the button does not work, register with Marnie Hughes.)

Thursday, January 21, 6-8:15 p.m.
International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)
“The secret to engaging employees: How to bridge the great divide and get your employees’ buy-in”
Location: Sutton Place Hotel, 955 Bay Street, Toronto, ON
Never before has there been such a diverse workforce driving business. Each generation is hearing your message through their own generational filter. Each generation has different issues that are important and wants to hear the message in their own way — text, video, email, phone call or face-to-face. Now add in weak management practices and the reluctance of the C-suite to be more forthcoming, and you have difficulties that intensify during times of change and turmoil. The panel includes:
*  Laurie Smith, who will discuss how to prepare your leadership team and communicate during times of challenge and change.
*  Leah Reynolds, who will present the business rationale for adapting communication practices to be in line with changing generational perspectives, and discuss the steps that communicators need to take to stay in step with these changing times.
*  Donna Papacosta, who will take you on a quick tour of the ways in which Web 2.0 is transforming employee communications.
(Note the IABC member/earlybird fee of $45 ends Jan. 14.)

Wednesday, January 27, 6-8:55 p.m.
IABC/Toronto’s Alliance of Independent Practitioners (AIP)
“Successful independent practitioners 101: How they got where they are now”
Location: The Assembly Hall, 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive (Kipling/Lakeshore), Toronto, ON
This panel discussion will cover how to market yourself to attract the clients you want, how to grow your business to achieve your financial goals and how to avoid pitfalls standing in the way of your success. Learn insights and tips from these entrepreneurs:
*  Paul Lima, freelance writer and author of Six-Figure Freelancer: How to Find, Price and Manage Corporate Writing Assignments
*  Diana Degan Robinson, president of Diana Robinson & Associates and winner of IABC/Toronto’s 2009 Award of Distinction for Independent and Small Agency of the Year
*  Ken Cherney, ABC, APR, MC, award-winning senior communications practitioner at Ken Cherney and Associates Inc.
*  Annette Martel, ABC, MC, award-winning independent consulting associate, TWI Surveys Inc. and frequent guest speaker at IABC world conferences.

Have you started up your networking engine yet in 2010? Will I see you at one of these events?

The start of a new year always seems to prompt at least a couple of weeks of good behaviour. Yeah, this is the year we’re going to lose 10 pounds, learn a new skill, get organized. And so I found myself looking around at the mess in my home office over the holidays, thinking, “This has got to change.”

I started small, with a shelf of files and the desk drawer that is the equivalent of every kitchen’s “junk drawer.” Here is what going through them taught me to do differently this year:

• BUSINESS CARDS
  About 40 cards were shoved in a corner of the drawer in no apparent order. I spent some time sorting these out and filing them, noting that some had written reminders on the back of where I had met the person and if I had promised to follow up with something.
  To do: This year, I vow to deal with any business cards by first searching for the person on LinkedIn and asking for a connection. You could argue that once the connections are made online, I could throw the cards away, but for now let’s say I’ll keep them, entered in contact management software and/or physically filed. I will make sure to write on EVERY card where I met the person.
• STUFF
  I can’t tell you how many pens, shells of pens waiting for refills, stubs of pencils, bits of paper, calculators with no batteries, paper clips and labels were stuffed in that drawer. Clearly, I had long ago abandoned any semblance of order and at some point began just tossing things in there just because I didn’t have another place to put them.
  To do: This year, I am finding proper homes for more things and keeping them there. I am putting the pens that work in a mug on my desk, and throwing out more things.
• PAPER
  We never really believed in paperless offices, did we? And I sure don’t have one. Two areas in particular have been messing up my office. (1) When I interview someone for an article, I print out the notes and keep them until the article is published. This is helpful because sometimes I have had to refer to the notes during the approval process, to add more detail or clarify a point. But somehow the notes have been multiplying when I’m not looking. (2) I have active files in at least three places besides the actual filing cabinets. Sometimes the files there aren’t actually active any more and should be moved out of the way. And I almost always drop things behind or trip over one of these places.
  To do:  This year, I will return to the notes within a month or so and shred them if they contain any sensitive information, or recycle them if they don’t. And today I am picking up a few supplies I need to combine all three spots into one place for active files, getting rid of the one that trips me.

There’s more to be done, but this is a start.

How do you stay on top of clutter in your office, especially when you are busy meeting client deadlines?

A Christmas visit with family reminded me that although the cool kids online are abuzz about Twitter, much of the regular (non PR or communications) world has little knowledge of or use for it. The nephews and nieces were all about video games or Facebook, while some of the aunts and uncles dabbled in Facebook but spent more time on e-mail.

Perhaps reflecting the lack of mainstream embrace of Twitter, and instead taking into account what people actually search for online, Merriam-Webster’s called “admonish” their word of the year. Webster’s New World noted the frequent use of “digital devices on the go” that resulted in “distracted driving” heading their list of notable words in 2009. (I also like “wallet biopsy,” which is an examination of a patient’s ability to pay before medical services are provided). Meanwhile, the Oxford University Press named “unfriend” its word of the year. (A close runner-up that I enjoy: “zombie bank,” a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support.)

Still, those working in PR and communications spent time — a LOT of time — talking about Twitter and sending tweets. So much, that the Global Language Monitor made “Twitter” its word of the year.

There’s debate about whether Canadians are on Twitter or not. Anecdotal evidence says we are, and a poll of more than 10,000 Canadians agrees that 47 per cent use Twitter. The poll also reported that 70 per cent use social media and have a Facebook account, while 58 per cent blog.

Sean Moffitt (Buzz Canuck) reported on a Forrester survey that showed 80 per cent of online Canadians had participated in social networks, 57 per cent doing so at least once a month (the U.S. was 51 per cent and the UK, 38 per cent).  Canada is #1 when it comes to social networking, he says, and gives 10 mostly solid reasons why, such as our online connections and high education. (I *think* citing our long winters and searches for Pamela Anderson is a joke, right?)

So I don’t quite believe the online survey that claimed only 26 per cent of Canadians (actually, ahem, of “more than” 824 respondents) are aware of Twitter, and of those, only 6 per cent use it. Still, I agree with one line from that survey report: Twitter’s still at a very early stage and “it really hasn’t been embraced by the mainstream yet.”

If you use Twitter, you probably won’t be surprised that a Harvard Business School study reported in June that more than 90 per cent of Twitter content is generated by just 10 per cent of the people using it. That’s far higher than a typical online social network, the study noted, where the top 10 per cent of users account for 30 per cent of content.

So maybe those of us already on Twitter and not holding up our share of the content generation should resolve that in 2010, we will try to push that 10 per cent number higher. And those not yet using Twitter might as well jump in and at least see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

Happy New Year!

While celebrating Christmas with family in a small Ontario town this past weekend, I ran across countless examples of misspelled signs, inappropriate use of apostrophes in what should have been plurals, random capitalization of Important Words and other affronts to word nerds. Sadly, I did not have anything with me to capture them for your amusement. But here are some other random misspellings from my “glad I didn’t let that one go” files:

• the shear volume of information (sheer)
• tighten the reigns on spending (reins)
• can eek out a competitive edge (eke)
• additionnal information (additional)
• allows buyers to peak inside (peek)
• wheel barrels (wheelbarrows).

And lest you think I only look with a critical eye, here are some examples of expressive writing that I found delightful:

• “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” - Nicholas Carr in Is Google Making Us Stupid?
• “Occasionally I’ll either be tuned into my local NPR station, KCRW, at exactly the right time…or I’ll fall down some Internet rabbit hole…” - Colleen Wainwright
• “Mostly, I herded actors from room to room — I was a border collie for the comely.” - Quinn Cummings in Notes From the Underwire (a funny book, by the way).

What amusing, enjoyable or painful writing have you seen lately?

It took a while, but I encountered the first instance of  “holiday season” in a client’s newsletter I edited yesterday. This phrase drives me crazy, whether or not it is accented by unnecessary capitalization as Holiday Season. Winter is a season; so is spring. Christmas (and the ensuing holiday) is not a season, even though advertising that starts before the Halloween decorations are put away makes it seem so. So please, can we just say “holidays” rather than “holiday season”?

By coincidence, I recently ran across humorist Dave Barry’s funny take on the holiday season (thanks to Wendy Marlow), from Christmas Shopping: A Survivor’s Guide:

“In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’”

While trying unsuccessfully to find an online link to it, I came across this one, which reminds me of attempting to shop at a mall near me anywhere near Christmas:

“Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around a parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.”

I hope you enjoy the laugh, and the “season”!

It was still dark as I drove my husband to a 7 a.m. doctor’s appointment yesterday. Traffic was building on the highway, but at least it was moving. In another half an hour, cars would probably be keeping no better than a snail’s pace.

It suddenly occurred to me that in my former corporate life, this is where I would have been at this ungodly hour on a weekday. I would already be stressed out by being up early enough to shower and dress, get the family organized and get on the road. The radio would be on to give advance warning of accidents and traffic jams, incoming snow storms or heavy rain. A drive that takes just half an hour in ideal conditions — perfect weather, middle of the day, light traffic — routinely took at least an hour, sometimes even when getting on the road at 7, since plenty of others had the same idea of “getting a jump” on traffic.

I smiled and said, “I am SO LUCKY.”

Lucky to be able to do what I do best, write, in a home office. Lucky that I don’t have to be somewhere else at a certain time every day. Lucky that I don’t spend one or two hours on the road every day. Lucky that now I usually listen to weather reports with mild curiosity rather than anxiety.

Do you feel lucky today? Why?

Just a couple of years ago, today would have been a travel day. I’d have my bag packed, a batch of shortbread made, and would be (probably frantically) doing some last-minute work this morning before heading to the airport for a Thursday-to-Sunday pre-Christmas getaway. Destination: Vancouver, and the home of my very best friend from — and the highlight of — my high school days.

Sometimes, between the demands of work and my own family and getting ready for Christmas, it seemed impossible to even think of getting away, but I did. We got ready for Christmas together every year that Dale spent in Vancouver. Usually, we went to pick out a tree together, set it up and decorated it. I made more shortbread with her two daughters. We went Christmas shopping. We made meals, laughed, hung out with her son and daughters, caught up on each other’s lives and laughed some more. Even the mundane chores of life with small children, when they were small, were somehow easier because it was like having two moms in the house.

Well, you know where this is heading. Dale died of multiple myeloma in January, 2005. So I can’t tell you how glad I am that I made a point of visiting every single year, no matter what was going on.

Jean Gogolin, a speechwriter friend met through the serendipity of the Internet, shared in a recent newsletter an interesting perspective on the need for balance in life, contained in a speech by Coca-Cola CEO Bryan Dyson:

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them — work, family, health, friends and spirit, and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls — family, health, friends and spirit — are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. It will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

I love that description, and he’s right. Every time I’ve thought “I can’t possibly get away, I’ve got too much work,” but I’ve done it anyway — to visit Dale, to take a one-hour skiing lesson once a week, to help out occasionally in my sons’ classrooms when they were small — the work has been there when I returned, and it got done. And my family, health, friends and spirit have been the better for my choice.

So don’t neglect your work, but make sure it doesn’t cause you to scuff or shatter the other balls in your life.

All the fuss about Tiger Woods this week (who is thankfully no longer the top trending topic on Twitter) just made me think this:

If those who are already gorgeous, thin and rich — like Elin Nordegren and Shania Twain, for American and Canadian examples — are having trouble reaching happily-ever-after, why do so many people hang their hopes on a good life on getting rid of wrinkles, losing 10 pounds and winning the lottery?

Don’t wait to live your life. Go do it now.

Here’s some more expressive writing.

Love Letter is a public art project in Philadelphia consisting of a series of 50 rooftop murals painted by local and international artists. The project began in August 2009, and is described this way:

The murals, which are best viewed from the Market-Frankford elevated transit line, collectively express a love letter from a guy to a girl, from an artist to his hometown, and from local residents to their West Philadelphia neighborhood. Love Letter, which will be documented in two books, a film, and a gallery exhibition, speaks to all those who have loved and for those who long for a way to express that love to the world around them.

For example, one mural says, “Forever begins when you say yes.” Others say, “Miss you too often not to love you” and “Look look look look any way as long as it’s at me.” (See them all here.)

For writers, it’s a reminder of how the words we choose can say so much.

For the romantic, well, it’s another excuse to admire expressive writing (like Other People’s Love Letters)!

(Thanks to Patti Digh for tweeting about the project!)